PATRIOTS NOTEBOOK: Smith a disruptive force on Vikings' defense

Friday

Minnesota Vikings free safety Harrison Smith has the ability to wreak havoc on an opposing offense. The Patriots must locate and attempt to contain him when they play host to the Vikings on Sunday.

FOXBORO – Harrison Smith puts the “free” in free safety.

The Minnesota Vikings’ veteran free safety has a knack for freeing himself up to wreak havoc on opposing offenses.

“Harrison Smith,” Patriots head coach Bill Belichick said earlier this week, “does a great job with pre-snap disguise. He’s one of the best. You know, Smith, Ed Reed (who spent most of his career with the Baltimore Ravens), (former Pittsburgh Steeler Troy) Polamalu. Those guys are, I’d say, among the best. He’s certainly right there.

“He’s a hard guy to read. He does an excellent job of timing his movement based on either the quarterback’s cadence, the offensive formation, motion, the play clock, all those combination of things. He does an excellent job of using some or all of them to put the offense in a difficult position to account for them or to not account for them when he’s blitzing and so forth. He’s really good.”

How good?

Smith’s 65 tackles heading into Sunday’s game with the Patriots at Gillette Stadium rank second to middle linebacker Eric Kendricks’ 89 on the Vikings, but his impact doesn’t end there. He has seven tackles for loss, seven passes defensed, six quarterback hits, three sacks, three interceptions he’s returned for 66 yards, two fumble recoveries and one forced fumble.

Simply put, the 6-foot-2, 214-pounder is a disruptive force.

A first-round pick out of Notre Dame in the 2012 NFL Draft, Smith has earned three-Pro Bowl berths with the Vikings and holds the franchise career records for interception returns for touchdowns (with four) and sacks by a defensive back (10).

Dog days for Andrews: As far as Patriots center David Andrews is concerned, football’s dog days have arrived.

The University of Georgia product will have a keen interest when the fourth-ranked Bulldogs play host to top-ranked Alabama at Sanford Stadium in Athens, Ga., in a rematch of last season’s national championship game (won by the Crimson Tide, 26-23, in overtime) this afternoon.

“I think it’s going to be a tough challenge for them,” Andrews admitted. “I’m pulling for them. I think it’s kind of the same formula: You’ve got to run the football, stay ahead on down and distance, can’t do anything to hurt themselves. Alabama’s a good football team, but I like my ’Dogs.”

On Sunday afternoon, when the Patriots observe “My Cause, My Cleats,” the NFL campaign that allows players across the league to wear custom footwear reflecting their commitment to charitable causes, Andrews will don cleats on behalf of the Warrior Dog Foundation.

Established by Mike Ritland, a Navy SEAL who fought as a Navy SEAL in Operation Iraqi Freedom and other deployments, the Warrior Dog Foundation’s mission statement reads, in part, that it was founded “as a place for retirement and rehabilitation of retired Warrior K9s slated to be euthanized.

“We provide a rare sanctuary of last resort and, as a result, our retired K9s often stay with us for many years, and some live out their lives with us,” the mission statement continues. “Once these retired K9 Warriors have completed their service and, for whatever reason, are unable to continue on with their handler, the Warrior Dog Foundation helps transition them from an operational environment into our state-of-the-art kennel facility in Texas. We then ensure the care of each individual K9 with dignity and grace, including both mental and physical rehabilitation for the rest of their lives.”

Andrews, who has two German Shepherds, says the decision to represent the Warrior Dog Foundation was made in conjunction with his wife, Mackenzie.

“It’s the second year I’ve done it,” said Andrews. “I was able to go out there this spring and spend a little bit of a weekend out there and kind of hearing some of the dog stories and seeing it hands-on, to me it’s a really cool organization.

“A lot of military working dogs come home and they have a lot of affects and everything from the war. This foundation takes them in, tries to rehabilitate them to maybe go back in to (the) police force or (a) SWAT team, things like that, and if they can’t they get to live out their lives and the retirement they deserve after all they’ve done. So it’s a really cool foundation for me. It’s one that supports animals, which I love, but also the military, so I think it’s pretty cool.”

Allen ruled out: Patriots tight end Dwayne Allen (knee) did not practice on Friday and will miss his second straight game.

Defensive end Trey Flowers did not practice, either, but his absence was not injury related.